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0. M. POULKEL Breast-Harness.

No. 226,510. Patented April 13,1880.

WITNESSES WMfl wn fllggltTOR a a ATTORNEY N PETERS, PHOTO-LITNOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, D, C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES M. FOULKE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF OF HIS RIGHT TO SPENCER D. \VRIGHT, OF SAME PLACE.

BREAST-HARNESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 226,510, dated April 13, 1880.

Application filed January 15, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES M. FoULKE,

of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Breast-Harness, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in that class ofbreast-harness in which the breaststrap has a central arch or recess for receiv- 1o ing the windpipe of the horse, so as to prevent choking, due to pressure exerted on the windpipe by the strap in pulling.

The invention consists in combininga breaststrap having a central arched portion with an arched metallic plate having elastic Win gs rigidly secured to the strap, as hereinafter more fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view of my improved breast-harness as it appears upon the horse, and Fig. 2 a sectional plan view of a portion of the breast-s trap drawn to an enlarged scale.

A is the breaststrap, having at each end a buckle, a, or other device for the attachment of the traces. This strap is supported by means of a strap, B, passing around the withers of the horse and buckled at each end to the strap A. The latter strap has, at or about the center, an arched portion or recess, 1', for

the accommodation of the horses windpipe, and on the outside of the strap is arranged a rod or bar, 0, this bar comprising the central portion, 1), and end wings, c, and being preferably made of steel. The central portion, 1),

3 5 of the bar is rigid, and conforms in shape to the arched portion 1" of the strap A, the Wings 0, however, being thin and elastic, and being riveted or otherwise firmly attached to the strap.

It will be observed that the strap A is in a single piece, and presents a uniform surface for the horse to press against. By this means I avoid that chafing of the horses breast which invariably occurs in that class of breast-harness in which the strap B is discontinued at the points z z. The wings 0, being thin and elastic, will yield to inequalities in the shoulders of a horse, so that the bearing on both shoulders is uniform, and these wings can yield without affecting the shape of the rigid o central portion of the bar, thereby overcoming an objection to that class of bars in which the arched portion and the wings are both rigid, as in Albros Patent, No. 128,520, July 2, 1872.

I claim as my invention The combination of the continuous breaststrap A, having a central outwardly curved or arched portion, 7, for the reception of the windpipe, with the bar 0, having the central rigid arched portion, b, and the thin elastic 6o wings c, secured to the strap A, all substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

GBARLES M. FOULKE. 

